India, Pakisan activists promote peace at Amritsar seminar

Amritsar, Jan. 12 (ANI): Indian and Pakistani social and peace activists besides religious leaders attended a special seminar on Sunday, intended to defuse the growing tensions between countries since the Mumbai terror attacks of 26/11. The seminar titled Atankwad Ki Chunauti aur Dharam ki Bhumika (the challenge of terrorism and the role of religion) held here at the S.R. Government College here. It was organised by veteran journalist Kuldeep Nayyar, the founder of Bharat-Pak Manch (India-Pakistan forum) and supported by Folklore Research Academy and Punjab Jagriti Manch. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) chairman Asma Jehangir and Secretary General South Asian Free Media Association (Safma) Imtiaz Alam were among the distinguished guests. Famous social activist and Arya Samaj scholar Swami Agnivesh, Congress leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Akali Dal leader Captain Kanwaljeet Singh. Religious leaders Baba Kailash Nath, Pir Khwaza Sayeed Nizam of Hazrat Nizammudin Auliya and Sant Baba Kaushal Kishore from Ayodhya were also present on the occasion. Earlier talking to mediapersons the Pakistani representatives condemned the terrorist attacks on Mumbai on November 26, 2008, and sympathised with the families of victims and the people of India. Earlier, the visiting Pakistani peace activists at Attari welcomed Pakistan’’s admission of involvement of some Pakistanis in the act, which they said, should have been done much earlier, in the beginning of the crisis. The HRCP and Safma leaders stressed the need for joint India-Pakistan investigations and a judicious prosecution of the culprits. They called upon the Government of Pakistan to do the needful since terrorism was the common enemy of both the countries, and urged India and the media in both countries to show restraint. Imtiaz Alam and Asma Jehangir proposed that India and Pakistan should strengthen the joint anti-terrorism mechanism at the bilateral level and bring the culprits to justice. Emphasising on the resumption of the composite dialogue process, they displayed an abhorrence for war-mongering and rejected war as a means to solve inter-state disputes. They were of the view that through understanding, cooperation and friendship, India and Pakistan must fight their common enemy–terrorism. (ANI)